Does AMK Have the Right First Aid and Survival Kit for You?

Simon Ashdown from a company called Tender Corp. contacted me with information about a product called QuikClot, which helps stop bleeding. I asked if someone could speak about it on DestinySurvival Radio.

As a result, my guest this week was Frank Meyer, Chief Marketing Officer for Tender Corp. and Adventure Medical Kits (AMK). He’s co-founder of AMK as well as a trained EMT.

The first thing we talked about was QuikClot. It’s meant to be applied with pressure to a bleeding wound. It allows blood to clot so that in five minutes the bleeding stops. QuikClot is a mesh bag of Zeolite beads which fits in the palm of your hand.

It was developed for use by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now available to consumers like you and me. You’ll want to include QuikClot among your first aid supplies at home or when you travel.

I’m very grateful to have received some samples of QuikClot, first aid and survival kits in advance of our DestinySurvival Radio conversation. I checked out the survival kits first. They’re the SOL Survival Medic and the SOL Origin. By the way, SOL stands for Survive Outdoors Longer, in case you were thinking it stood for something else.

Both kits are pocket sized. It’s amazing what’s packed into each one. There are items for signaling, shelter, fire starting and navigation.

I mentioned to Frank Meyer that I’ve seen reviews panning similar kits, but I like the idea of carrying a few essentials. He said AMK doesn’t make novelty survival kits because the idea really is to help you “survive outdoors longer.”

What really impressed me about the first aid kits is how well compartmentalized they are. They’re like kits within a kit. Pockets and pouches are clearly labeled as to what function their contents can be used for.

For example, the Outfitter kit includes pouches for wound care/burns/blisters, fractures/sprains, and field trauma. Another pouch contains a medical manual, medications and instruments. This is a medical kit that can be taken on camping, boating or hunting trips. You may want one to keep in your car, too.

The manual in the Outfitter is a 202 page paperback book called A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicine, by Eric A. Weiss, M.D. Plus, each pouch in the kit contains an instruction sheet.

AMK calls this kind of organization their easy care first aid system. That makes a lot of sense to me because you don’t want to hunt around for miscellaneous parts or instruments during the stress of an emergency. The less you have to think about, the better, especially if you don’t have formal first aid training.

It’s hard to know what you’re getting in a first aid kit when the label tells you how many pieces are in it. It might show that it contains 175 pieces, but 120 may be bandaids. So AMK designs their kits to let you know what activities each one will help you with. It’s important to have the right kit for a given situation.

A helpful service AMK offers is RegisterYourKit.com, where you can get a 50% discount on your first order of refills of your AMK kit’s supplies. You can register other brands, too. No need to hunt online for replacements to keep your kit stocked.

During our conversation Frank shared a number of specific examples as to how and when he’s used his medical kits. He’s been on outdoor adventures where he’s used up most of the kit’s supplies.